A mail piece received at a postal distribution center may be scanned for identification to finalize a destination of the mail piece. When a mail piece cannot be finalized (e.g., contains insufficient readable information to allow its full ZIP code sprayed on the front), a fluorescent bar code may be sprayed on the back. The bar code may be referred to as an ID tag. The ID tag may identify that particular mail piece so that when later, after the delivery address has been successfully coded, the coding results may be reassociated with that mail piece and the delivery sequence ID tag may be sprayed on it.
The mail piece may have a fluorescent bar code or ID tag sprayed on the back. While the ID tag does not need to be sprayed, this is typical in the industry. The ID tag may be sprayed on the mail piece not just when the mail piece cannot be finalized, but also for general tracking purposes. The ID tag may be used to associate later processing results with that particular mail piece.
The contents of the ID tag may be associated with an image of the front of the mail piece in a database. A mail piece that was not successfully finalized may be sorted to a reject bin. The image (and associated ID tag) may be transmitted for non-real time processing of some sort, either computer or manual. Assuming the image can be finalized after the additional processing, the ID tag may be associated in the database with the finalized ZIP code that may then be sprayed on the mail piece.
Sometime later, the mail piece may be rescanned, with the ID tag read. The destination ZIP code may be retrieved from the database and sprayed on the mail piece, which may then enter the automatic processing procedures. The mail piece may be routed to its destination by the automatic processing procedures using the bar code.